Zildjian Welcomes David Hodek from Slovakia

Zildjian is delighted to welcome David to the worldwide family as one of our youngest artists.

David was born in 1997, his passionate relationship with the drums started when, at the age of 3, his father, Szilard Hodek, brought home the video recording by the band called Earth, Wind and Fire. David wanted to see this video recording over and over again – he was obviously fascinated by the actions of the drummer, Sonny Emory. He tried to copy Sonny. While this was indeed a child's game his parents, with their experienced ears and eyes, immediately noticed that his playing was incredibly precise for a 3 year old child. He got his first toy drum set at the age of 3 which he immediately completed using kitchen tools and utensils. It didn’t seem like his enthusiasm was going to decline, so he soon got his first complete drum set sized for children.

His apparent musical talent evoked the attention of his family's musician friends. David’s father wanted confirmation that David had an unusual talent and turned to a highly respected professor of drum at the jazz section of a music school/conservatory in Budapest, Hungary. The professor confirmed that David was indeed unusually talented. At the age of 4 David not only played at the level of a teenager, who has been conscientiously practicing for at least five years, but he was also able to read musical scores. The professor immediately took David under his wings, thus becoming David's first teacher.

Later on, but still at the tender age of 4, a few musician ex-colleagues of David’s grandfather formed a Blues Band and invited David to be the drummer. His first professional debut was with this band. David's reputation grew and today he is sought after by some of the Central Europe's finest musicians.

David says "When I am playing the cymbals are the most important thing for me. The drums are important as well, but you can tune them and thus totally change their sound. I started using Zildjian when I was 10 years old. My parents bought me the cymbals as a birthday present. To play on Zildjian cymbals was my dream from my 4 years old. I always made a big K on my cymbals (as the logo of K series). It's a great feeling to be part of the Zildjian family of artists”.